Immigration in Transition

Immigration Changes Will Change Canada’s Economy and Society

A reduction in the number of immigrants allowed into Canada, along with an evolving immigration policy, will play a key role in how the economy functions going ahead.

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That was the consensus of a timely and thought-provoking panel discussion held June 17 in Calgary.

Hosted by the Canadian International Council – Calgary Chapter, in partnership with TIES (The Immigrant Education Society), the School of Public Policy (University of Calgary) and the Faculty of Law (U of C), the roundtable explored pressing issues set to shape the future of Canadian immigration.

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For TIES President & CEO Sally Zhao, they’re issues that hit close to home.

“The clients we serve, along with our organizational capacity, are directly impacted by immigration policy changes,” Zhao said.  

“The reduction of immigration numbers will have substantial impacts for sure.”

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The Cuts and the Impacts

The Government of Canada recently announced it would be reducing the intake of permanent residents to 395,000 in 2025 from 485k in 2024.

Extensive research compiled by TIES Centre for Immigrant Research (CIR), using several external resources (statistics data, governmental policies), shows this could have a substantial impact on the economy and society.

The research shows Canada’s labour market would be impacted — especially in the healthcare, construction, and eldercare sectors.

“Labour market impacts for sure will be there,” Sally Zhao pointed out. “Our clients definitely fill a lot of gaps.”

According to the CIR, immigration is crucial to the Canadian job market.

• Immigrants make up 28.9% of the labour force.  

• They’re overrepresented in STEM, healthcare, and construction.

• More than 800,000 immigrants are self-employed.

• 250,000+ employ others — supporting entrepreneurship and innovation.

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Robert Falconer, a researcher with the School of Public Policy, said there’s often a fear that more immigrants mean fewer jobs, homes and services for Canadians.

“Immigrants don’t take jobs,” he said. “They also create jobs.”

“The issue is not so much immigration as it is the lack of affordability and cost of housing,” he pointed out. “The housing policy needs to expand.”

As for the strain on services, such as healthcare, Falconer said that can’t be blamed solely on immigrants, adding most arrive in Canada “young and healthy.”

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International Students

The panel also spoke about the reduction in the intake of international student permits issued for 2025.

Lawyer and U of C law professor Kamaal Zaidi added that the impacts were swift, pointing to the pause of several programs at one Alberta post-secondary school.

“It’s a powerful decision, and there is an effect,” Zaidi said. “Reduction of numbers has deeply impacted Canadians, businesses, and people.”

The Effect on Programs/Services

A reduction in immigration also affects groups that serve immigrants.

Budgets may be reduced along with intake numbers, forcing long wait lists for services such as LINC (Language Instruction for Newcomers to Canada) classes.

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TIES currently has more than 2,000 clients waiting for LINC classes.

“It creates anxiety because they (immigrants) can’t get the service they are waiting for and need to become contributing citizens,” Zhao said.

“We feel stressed. We want to offer as many services as possible, but we really need more resources.”

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Key to a Successful Immigration Policy

The panel agreed that there is a need for changes but advise they be done in a more aligned and coordinated way – with all interested and invested partners involved.

“We need to involve municipalities more,” Zaidi pointed out. “They deal with migrants all the time and they don’t have enough funding to integrate migrants, and it turns into an affordable housing, inflation issue.”

“The key to developing immigration policy goes back to the Canadian Constitution Act. Here, the cooperation and coordination between the federal and provincial governments (through pilot projects) allow key policies to be expressed. If they work, then we have solutions. If not, we can try something different.”

“Either way, there is a good faith effort to improve immigration policy,” he ended.

“We do hope Canadian immigration policy always takes into consideration the importance of balancing economic growth with demographic sustainability and inclusivity,” Zhao said. “While still addressing infrastructure constraints and preserving national unity.”

“Immigrants, when they arrive here — they have very high hopes. But regardless of how much the immigrants want to contribute back to the Canadian society, if they’re not empowered — it will be very challenging for them to do it.”

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Media RSVP, Interviews & Inquiries:

Tomasia DaSilva

Media and Relationship Strategist

Email: tomasiadasilva@immigrant-education.ca

Phone: 403-291-0002